MINSK, 12 May (BelTA) – The aviation of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry will help fight forest fires in Turkey, the ministry's representatives told BelTA.
According to the source, Turkey appreciates skills of Belarusian specialists, this is why the country looks forward to their arrival every year. A Mi-8 helicopter of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry has arrived in Turkey to render this aid.
The flight was not a simple one: the Lipki airfield – the Gomel airport – the Marculesti airport in Moldova and then along the coast of Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria to the Corlu airport in Turkey. The entire flight took about eight hours. After preparatory test flights and instruction the Turkish side will determine where specifically the Belarusian helicopter will be put on duty.
Thanks to such business trips pilots and technicians of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry acquire invaluable experience of fighting large forest fires in complicated conditions of mountainous terrain, the Emergencies Ministry said.
It is not the first year Belarusian rescue workers have helped other countries fight natural calamities. Aerial units of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry have been used to fight forest fires in Turkey, Russia, Latvia, and Georgia. They have also helped render aid in flood-stricken areas in Serbia.
